After She left
by CorrineIoneBingham
Summary: 2 years after her initial departure jane and michael run into their old nanny and make a few startling discoveries.  I suck at summaries..plz R&R! rating might increase...might not...idk  Disclaimer: i own nothing except for victoria
1. Chapter 1

A/N: hello everyone! This is my first fanfiction so I hope you like it! This is just me being a total Mary Poppins obsessed dork.

"Come one Michael! We have to hurry!" Jane said urgently as she dragged her younger brother through the park by the hand. They were running from none other than the scum of the earth, that bird-caging menace, Ms. Andrew.

"Jane I think we lost her. I mean, she's so huge it's not like she's capable of running after to kids for very long." Michael said rolling his eyes as her ran after his sister! Jane knew this was true and soon slowed to a stop.

" I guess you're right Michael but you know her...she probably will have every police man in town looking for us. But when she looked back at her brother and saw him staring off in another direction, his attention totally captivated.

"Michael," she said waving a hand in front of his face. "What are you looking at Michael?"

TBC…


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: here's chapter 2

_Last time:_

"Michael," she said waving her hand in front of his face. "What are you looking at, Michael?"

_To continue:_

Michael said nothing but pointed straight ahead of him. Jane looked where Michael was pointing and when she saw what had rendered her brother speechless her eyes nearly bugged out of her head. On a park bench, about 100 yards away sat someone they had not seen for two long, miserable years. Seeing her there was like laying eyes on some kind of earthly angel. Sitting there so prim and proper, reading her book was none other than Mary Poppins.

"Jane," Michael began tentatively. "Do you see who I see?" Jane gulped down the lump that had appeared in her throat and asked,

"That depends. Do you see Mary Poppins sitting on that park bench over there?"

"Would you think I was crazy if I said yes?"

"No." was Jane's blunt reply. And with that they both rocketed off towards the one person that they new could end Ms. Andrew's terrible reign.

"Mary Poppins! Mary Poppins!" they shouted in unison. Upon hearing her name Mary Poppins's head jerked around to see Jane and Michael Banks running towards her like a couple of starving hyenas would run towards an abandoned carcas. (A/N: wow…really bad comparison ) When the children were about 5 feet away Mary was about to reprimand them for behaving so improperly but before she could open her mouth Jane and Michael skidded to a stop. They seemed to be staring, not at her, but at something over her shoulder. She knew instantly what had caused them to stop so suddenly and didn't blame them one bit for being more than a little stunned.

"Hello there you two. How have you been?" when she asked this they seemed to snap back to their senses.

"Mary Poppins," Jane began. She then pointed to the pram that sat not more that a foot away from where Mary Poppins sat and asked, "Is that your new charge?" she hoped beyond hope that the answer was yes. Mary simply looked back at the pram and the small infant it contained then tuned back to the two preteens.

"One could put it that way." She said.

"What do you mean Mary Poppins." Michael asked.

"Jane, Michael. This is my daughter, Victoria."


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I own nothing except victioria

A/N: I would like to thank Margo Duncan for her awesomely encouraging review and all my other reviewers as well. Well…here's chapter 3!

_Last time:_

…this is my daughter Victoria."

_To continue:_

Upon hearing this Jane and Michael simply stared at Mary, who was now holding the baby, looking completely dumbstruck. But within moments Jane's girlish love of all things cute kicked in and she bombarded Mary with compliments and questions.

"Oh my gosh Mary Poppins! She's so adorable! How old is she? Can I hold her? She looks like a little tiny you!" Mary had to take a moment to wonder how Jane had said all that in one breath then gladly answered her questions.

"To answer you questions in order, she is 5 months old and yes, if you sit down, you can hold her. And thank you for the compliments. Her father also says that she resembles me." Jane did sit down and Mary carefully handed little Victoria to her. Finally Michael stepped forward and asked the question that his sister had forgotten to ask.

"Who's her father?" Mary looked at both children and asked,

"Do either of you remember Bert, the chimney sweep?"

"Oh how could we forget Bert!"

"He's her father." Both children stared gaping at Mary for a moment. Then, just as they were about to react to being told that the quirky chimney sweep that was something like a second father to them was a father and married to their old nanny they heard something that made their blood run cold.

A/N: Another short chapter...but i couldn't bring myself to add more...lest i spoil the suspense...hehe


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: hello again! Sorry I haven't updated in a while but between school and working on my novel I've been pretty busy. (and just to let you all know…yes, Mary and all the other characters are a tad bit ooc but I'll try to keep them from being too much so. But I really don't care if they are " )

_Last time:_

….they heard something that made their blood run cold.

_To continue:_

"There you two are! How dare you run off like that! You'll each receive two spoonfuls of cod liver oil when you return home!" Miss. Andrew thundered as she came towards the little group. She hadn't seemed to have even noticed Mary and Victoria.

"Is that Miss. Andrew?" Mary asked, although she already knew the answer.

"Unfortunately, yes. Father hired her after you left." Jane explained.

"And we've been trying to get her to leave ever since she walked in the door. But she's a little bit more of a challenge than the nannies we had when we were little." Michael said as he watched her lumber toward them. Both he and Jane expected to hear some kind of reprimand from Mary Poppins, but she was busy trying to uncurl Victoria's fingers from around the chain of her locket.

When Miss. Andrew reached the group she was just about to grab Jane and Michael by the ears but, when she caught sight of the familiar face of the young woman on the bench, she crossed her arms in front of her and glared at Mary.

"You seem familiar," she said. " Have I met you before young lady?" Mary turned to look at Miss. Andrew and said shortly,

"Yes ma'am, we have. I'm Mary Poppins." Upon hearing this Miss. Andrew's eyes grew wide as she remembered her last encounter with the young woman.

"Mary Poppins! I should have guessed! I see you've managed to obtain a new charge. What kind of parents would allow you to watch over their infant?" she asked Mary, gesturing to Victoria.

"I would." Mary said brusquely.

"What do you mean by that?" Miss. Andrew asked, confused.

"This is my daughter. Therefore I see no person better fit to watch over her than myself." Mary explained calmly. Although Jane and Michael could tell that it was all Mary could do to keep from losing her temper after Miss. Andrew's 'what kind of parents would allow you to watch over their infant' comment.

"Well if this is your daughter, then who is her father? Or do you not know who the father is?" Miss. Andrew asked rudely. And that was the straw that broke the camel's back. Mary could take insults about how she raised children, but when she implied that she was the kind of woman that wouldn't know the name of the man who fathered her child…that was another thing entirely.

TBC…

A/N: sry for the cliffy (plz don't flame me!) I don't especially like this chapter but I thought I'd post it any way and you guys could tell me in your reviews if I should rewrite it. I'm also thinking about doing a kind of song fic with the mary poppins characters to the song 'what do you do with a BA in English' from avenue Q but I'm not decided yet.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: well here's chapter 5 everybody! Thank you to all of you who reviewed…you can consider yourselves the sole reason that this story is longer than two chapters. (for ex: The Silent Winds Call me, Dr. Muraki and Margo Duncan) well here it is…remember…I don't own any think except victoria.

_Last Time:_

…that was another thing entirely.

_To Continue:_

Mary fixed Miss. Andrew with an icy glare and asked, in a voice so calm it was more than a little frightening,

"And what, pray tell, do you mean by that?" Unlike during their last encounter, Miss. Andrew stood her ground.

"I mean exactly what I said. Do you, or do you not know who the child's father is?" As Jane and Michael watched the interaction between the two women they almost (keyword: almost) felt the need to warn Miss. Andrew to apologize and back off, but they didn't dare get in the middle of this. They could tell Mary was getting angry. And when Mary Poppins gets angry…you're better off just staying quiet.

"Not that it is any of your business in the first place, but I know exactly who her father is. And what's more, that man is also my husband. And you're certainly one to talk about being able to take care of children properly." Mary snapped.

"How dare you say that! I've been taking care of children twice as long as you have. What give you any right to say that I don't know how to raise children." Miss. Andrew thundered angrily. Jane and Michael took to LARGE steps away. By this time Mary had placed Victoria carefully back into the pram and was on her feet glaring icy daggers at Miss. Andrew. But suddenly she took a deep breath, as if to calm herself.

"And at what age, might I ask, did you begin to look after children?" Miss. Andrew seemed a bit thrown off by this question. But answered none the less.

"Age Eighteen." She said shortly. Mary Poppins merely scoffed and said,

"I was no older than Jane."

" How could that be? No one in their right mind would hire someone that young to be a nanny."

"Oh I wasn't hired. I had no choice. I was the eldest of 5 children and since my mother was kept busy with the housework and my father was out at work all day, I was left to watch the little ones. The youngest of which was only about 6 mouths old." With that she turned and began to walk away briskly, pushing the pram ahead of her.

Miss. Andrew, Jane and Michael were left staring after her as she left. Jane and Michael had never pictured Mary with siblings. When she was their nanny they had met many of her cousins and even her uncle, but they had never even heard her mention any brothers or sisters. But they weren't allowed to dwell on this for very long because Miss. Andrew snapped back to her senses and quickly grabbed them by the upper arm and escorted them back to number 17 Cherry Tree Lane.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: sorry it took me so long to update but I've been busy with science fair and haven't had time to work on any of my writing. I know the last chapter was a little jumpy when it came to the plot but you'll be glad I did it that way because it had to all lead up to this chappy here! So u know the drill… I own nothing blahblahblah….read and review and I shall give u a cookie!

_Last time: _

With that she turned and began to walk away briskly, pushing the pram ahead of her….

_To continue:_

Mary continued her brisk walk home; still feeling a bit flustered from her 'conversation' with Miss. Andrew.

"Who was the dreadful woman mommy?" Victoria asked from her comfy seat in the pram wither her little green blanket. Mary just sighed and said softly,

"No one I would like around you whilst I'm still living." But Victoria would not accept such a vague answer. Her Mother should have known that.

"Who was it mommy?" the infant persisted. Mary shook her head and sighed once more. Sometimes she wished her daughter wasn't so much like her when it came to being persistent.

"Her name is Miss. Andrew and she is a very rude and rather cruel woman. As you could most likely gather from the conversation you undoubtedly eavesdropped on." Mary said, giving her daughter an accusing look. Victoria rolled her eyes and said,

"It's not eavesdropping when you're sitting, or in my case lying, less than two feet from the people talking." Mary simply chuckled and opened the gate to number 22 Baker Road, her home.

Once inside Mary took Victoria out of the Pram and walked into the drawing room, where she set Victoria down on the floor to play with some of her toys while she did her embroidery. Bert was due home any minute and she was actually quite surprised she and Tori had beat him home. Usually, when lunch or supper was imminent, he would already be home and sitting at the table by the time she got back from the park with Tori. However she didn't have to wait to long before…

"Mary!? You 'ome love?" Bert called as he walked in the door.

"Yes dear, in the drawing room." Bert walked in, covered in a dusting of soot, wiping his hands clean with his handkerchief. He went over and gave Mary a quick kiss, then went over to where Victoria, or as he called her 'Angle', was and picked her up while saying,

"'ello there my little angle. How was yer walk in the park? Did your mum be'ave 'er self?" He asked jokingly. Victoria giggled and said something in baby talk. Bert turned to Mary, knowing that she knew what Victoria had said, with a questioning glance.

"She said," Mary began, "that today was the first time she has ever seen me close to losing my temper." Bert chuckled slightly at the look on Mary's face as she and Victoria had one of their many little 'stare-downs'. But Victoria lost this match because of a gigantic yawn.

"I think it's time for a certain little lady ta take 'er nap. Bert said as he handed her to Mary. Victoria obviously had protested, because as she was walking upstairs with Victoria, Mary said exasperatedly,

"Honestly young lady! You're practically falling asleep in my arms, don't you even dare try to tell me you're not tired." With that the two had disappeared into the nursery. Bert chuckled to himself as he flopped down on the sofa. Even though it'd been just around two years, he still couldn't believe that this was really his life. He had a Beautiful wife and equally beautiful baby daughter. He always found himself wondering just what he did to deserve such a wonderful life. Just as he was beginning to get lost in his thoughts, Mary came back down and joined him. He wrapped an arm around her and asked,

"So love, tell me, wot in the world could've possibly made _you_ come close to losing your temper?" Mary sighed and snuggled closer to Bert.

"As much as I would like to say that 'practically perfect people do not lose their tempers'…Good gracious that woman is absolutely infuriating!"

"Who?"

"Miss. Andrew, who else? Do you know of any one else on this earth that can bring my blood to a steady boil?"

"Oi! That old coddard is in town?"

"Unfortunately yes. Apparently she has been for quite some time." Mary told him.

"Wot ya mean?" Bert asked, thoroughly confused.

"I ran into Jane and Michael in the park. Or rather they ran into me," Mary said. "They were running from Miss. Andrew and told me that after I left Mr. Banks was hired her to take my place."

"An' their miserable I'm guessin'?"

"Quite so from what I could gather.

"So what was it tha' she did tha' got ya so worked up?" Bert asked, squeezing Mary's shoulders.

"Darling it is quite a long list." Mary said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Well, I don' know 'bout you but I got time." Bert told her.

"Well I suppose the start of it all was when she saw Tori and asked what kind of parents would trust me with an infant. Then, after I told her that Tori was my daughter, she had the audacity to inquire as to whether or not I knew who her father was!" Mary said. She stood up and began pacing angrily back and forth on the drawing room rug. All Bert could do was sit on the couch watching her and wait for her to continue, for he knew that when she was telling about something that made her angry…it was best not to interrupt. But when she didn't start speaking again Bert summoned up enough courage to ask,

"Then what 'append love?" Mary suddenly stopped her pacing and stood stalk still in the center of the room. Arms still crossed over her chest and her head bowed. Bert took this as his cue to stand up and go comfort her.

"Then she pulled me into an argument about who was better qualified to take care of children and who had been taking care of them longer." At this point Bert had wrapped his arms around her and she had leaned her head on his shoulder. " By that time I was so angry I was silly enough to bring up my childhood and my brothers and sisters."

"Yer what?" Bert said, surprised. He knew that both of Mary's parents were dead, but he had never known that she had any siblings. In all the time that they had been friends and throughout the 2 years of their marriage she had never once mentioned that she had any brothers and sisters.

"Yes Bert, I have 4 younger siblings. 3 brothers and 1 sisters."

" But…but why am I jus' findin' this out now!?"

"I haven't really heard from any of my siblings in years. I found out from Uncle Albert that my youngest brother died of Pneumonia just about 3 months before our wedding." She finally looked back up at Bert and saw him looking at her as though she had been speaking French (or some other foreign tongue). She chuckled softly then led Bert back over to the sofa and sat down with him

"Maybe it would be best if I started from the beginning." She said and Bert, who was still staring at her and looking completely lost and confused, just nodded.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Well here it is, chapter 7. Hopefully I didn't take to extremely long in getting this up. I've been sick lately and have barely been able to stop sneezing long enough to type a single sentence. This chapter is dedicated to all of my lovely reviewers but most of all to Dr.Muraki. Once again I own nothing except little Victoria (of whom I shall soon have a picture of posted on my page on if you read and review you shall receive a cookie!

_Last Time:_

"Maybe I should start from the beginning."

_To Continue:_

_**Flash back to Mary's childhood—**_

"Mary Elizabeth Poppins!"

"Coming Mother!" Little 9 year old Mary Poppins hurried down the stairs as quickly as she could. "Yes mother?" Little Mary stood perfectly straight in the doorway of the kitchen, where her mother was busy making dinner for the family. But it was obvious she was having quite a bit of difficulty getting anything done because of the four young children running rampant around the room.

"Mary, where have you been?" Her mother questioned crossly when she turned to Mary.

"I was upstairs reading my new book." Mary replied sheepishly. She knew she should have known better than to try and read a book during the summer holidays.

"I swear young lady, if you can't learn when you need to get your nose out of those precious books of yours that your uncle gave you then I'll tell your father to take them away." Her mother chided.

"I..I'm sorry Mother. What is it that you want me to do?" Mary Stammered.

"Well, I should think that it would be obvious just by looking around this kitchen! Especially to such a well read girl like yourself." Her mother remarked both sarcasm and anger evident in her voice.

"Yes ma'am. Come along children lets go into the living room and give Mummy some peace and quiet shall we?" Mary said as she shepherded her younger siblings out of the kitchen. Carrying her youngest sibling, her brother Adam, on her hip since he was only just learning how to walk.

"Mary?" came the voice of Mary's sister Emma. She was the oldest of Mary's younger siblings and they shared quite a close bond.

"Yes my dear?" Mary replied in as motherly a fashion as a nine-year-old could.

"Why is Mummy always so cross?" Emma asked innocently as she plopped down on the sofa with her doll. Mary herded her brothers Jacob and Alexander in by some how holding on to the shoulders of both of their jackets with one hand and told them to go play with their toys where she could see them. She then joined Emma on the sofa and placed Adam on her lap before replying,

"Oh Emmy, Mother isn't always cross."

"But last night she wouldn't even come in to tuck me in and kiss me good night. And Daddy won't let me sit on his lap anymore." The little 5-year-old complained.

"That's because you're getting to be a big girl now and you don't need someone to always tuck you in and kiss you good night. And you're getting to big to sit on Fathers lap." Mary explained while trying to stop Adam from pulling on her hair.

"But I still want some one to at least tuck me in." Emma said quietly.

"How about this. Since we share a room, I'll come over and tuck you in and kiss you good night. How does that sound?"

"Okay," Emma said. "Can I ask you one more thing Mary?"

"Of course Emma."

"Why do Mummy and Daddy always shout at you?" This question stunned Mary. Yes, Emma was right. Her parents did shout at her quite often. But she had become so used to being told that she couldn't do anything right or being yelled at for forgetting to watch her siblings that she pretty much no longer noticed it.

"Whatever to you mean Emma?" Mary inquired, in attempt to 'play innocent'. But Emma wasn't buying it. She simply crossed her arms over her chest and stared at Mary. Seeing that she wasn't going to avoid this question, Mary said the first logical explanation that came to mind,

"Because I'm the eldest." Emma looked questioningly at Mary but before she could make any further inquiries Mary suggested, "Why don't you run upstairs and get you dolls and we can play with them together?" It was obvious that Emma wished that Mary would give her a more proper explanation but none-the-less she hurried up stairs to retrieve her dolls. Mary sunk back into the sofa and thought about Emma's question. Why did her parents yell at her so much? She got top marks in school and her bedroom was absolutely sparkling clean. Every once in a while she would forget that it was her responsibility to watch her siblings but that was still a rare occasion. Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a loud crash. Her head snapped up and she saw Jacob and Alexander standing by the remains of the vase that had been sitting on the small table in the corner of the room.

"Jacob! Alex! How could you!" Mary shouted as she dashed over to them, "Mother's going to have my head!"

"We're sorry Mary." Both Jacob and Alexander droned in unison, not being at all sincere.

"Being sorry isn't going to fix that vase! Why is it that the moment I look away you two do something to get yourselves in trouble?" her brothers simply looked at the floor acting ashamed. Mary stomped her foot angrily then snapped and pointed to the sofa. The boys immediately scrambled over and sat down, still looking at the floor. Mary turned back to the vase in order to survey the damage but when she saw the vase it was no longer in broken shards on the floor but back on the table in one piece. For a moment she simply stared at the vase in astonishment.

"How in the world…" she began quietly. Suddenly Mary's mother appeared in the door way, obviously having heard the crash and asked Mary accusingly

"Alright young lady, what is it you've broken now?" Although Mary had been taught never to lie, she had no intention of admitting that the vase had broken when it was back to it's previous pristine condition and, as long as she was there, her Jacob and Alex wouldn't have the pluck to speak against her.

"What do you mean Mother?" She asked.

"You know very well what I mean young lady. I heard a crash from in here and the only explanation would be that you broke something."

"I didn't break anything Mother." Mary said honestly.

"Then what made the crash that I heard?" Mary's mother asked.

"I didn't hear any crash Mother." Mary's mother eyed her suspiciously for a moment, then looked carefully around the room. She couldn't see a thing out of place. So she looked back down at Mary and said,

"Alright I'll let you slip by this once. But next time it'll be the paddle for you young lady. Now all three of you get up to your rooms."

"Yes Mother." Mary and her brothers said as they hurried out of the room. As she was going up the stairs Mary bumped into Emma who was carrying a couple dolls and told her that Mother had told them to stay in their rooms 'til dinner. As she walked back to their room with Emma Mary couldn't help but wonder how exactly the vase had gotten fixed so quickly. All she could remember that she did was snap her fingers then point to the sofa.

"Maybe…" she thought to herself. No, it couldn't be. People can't fix things just by snapping their fingers.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: hey everybody

A/N: hey everybody! I am so sorry I took so long to update, I've been really busy with drivers ed! You have Elizabeth Lakecrest to thank for this chapter and it is dedicated to her. So I hope that it is semi-decent.

_**Before:**_

"…_People can't fix things just by snapping their fingers."_

_**To continue:**_

At this point, Mary paused in her narrative. Bert watched her carefully, waiting for her to continue.

"Well, what happened then?" he asked. He was sure it was hard for Mary to talk about these memories but he was eager to learn more about her past. Mary, on the other hand, couldn't help but chuckle. It never failed to amuse her how her husband, a grown man of 29 years, could behave like a small child who couldn't wait to hear the end of a bedtime story.

"Perhaps I'll tell you the rest some other time. I think I'll go start getting supper ready." She told him. Bert knew that this was her way of saying that she didn't really want to talk anymore about her childhood at the moment. He couldn't say he could blame her. From what he had already heard, she hadn't had an exceptionally happy childhood.

"Oh tha's no problem love. Want me ta give ya a hand in the kitchen?" he asked; already knowing what she would say. Mary laughed out loud and told him,

" You know very well the answer to that. I'd never get anything done because I'd because I'd be to busy trying to keep you out of trouble." Just as she said this Bert practically jogged past her and into the kitchen. "Not that knowing that has ever succeeded in stopping you before." The last comment was more to herself than Bert.

Tori had been in her nursery sleeping peacefully until she was woken by a commotion from downstairs in the kitchen. She listened carefully for a moment or two to see if she could determine what exactly was going on. She didn't have to wait long because she head her mother say, rather loudly,

"Herbert Alfred! Put that down this instant and get out of this kitchen!" This was immediately followed by a peal of laughter from her father.

"Oh come now Mary! I'm jus' tryin' ta help ya a bit!" He whined innocently. Tori couldn't stifle the giggle that escaped her when she heard this. This was what happened most every time her father had and afternoon or evening off from work.

"Oh help me indeed! One of these days you'll help me right off a cliff! And if you don't get out of this kitchen before I count to three, you'll have helped yourself into a nice comfy spot on sofa for the next week!" This silenced her father almost instantaneously. She heard him scamper out of the kitchen and her mother call after him, "And go check on Tori please! If she's awake why don't bring her down to the drawing room and play with her for a bit? Maybe she'll keep you out of trouble while I get supper ready."

_Later that night_

As Mary prepared for bed that night she found herself thinking back over the days events. She thought back to her 'little' spat with the '_dear'_ Ms. Andrew and was, for the first time in a long while, overwhelmingly puzzled by her own behavior. As she replayed the conversation in her mind she could hardly makes sense of what she had said. Why had she brought up how long she had been taking care of children? She knew that when Ms. Andrew had questioned her abilities as a mother had been when she had lost her composure. But, she just couldn't seem to understand why she had brought up her brothers and sister. She hadn't spoken about them at all since she left home when she was sixteen to live with Uncle Albert and go to finishing school. She remembered how her siblings had loathed her for leaving them with their parents and how much it had hurt when her sister, the one sibling she had always felt closest to, had sworn that she would never speak to her again. Still, Mary doubted she would ever quite understand what had brought on this sudden outburst about her past. Suddenly, she was pulled from her thoughts by the sound of her husband's voice.

"Mary? You comin' to bed love?"

"Oh, yes. I'll be there in just a moment dear." She assured him. Perhaps all this would be clearer after a good night sleep.


End file.
